Fence systems are usually made of either wood or metal. They are an obstruction to views of the surrounding terrain or the building, and they also require periodic maintenance.
Fence systems incorporating glass panels are becoming increasingly popular, because glass is virtually maintenance free, and also because glass permits visual enjoyment of the surroundings and is less intrusive.
In order to provide sufficient strength, it has been the practice to use glass panels of considerable thickness. Glass of this type is expensive. The clamps for holding the edges of the glass panels can also represent a heavy expense. Many such clamps have several components, formed of cast metal, which must be assembled on site. All of this means that glass panel fences in the past, have been a relatively expensive solution to a problem. Another factor is that the glass panels will require holes to be formed at spaced intervals along the edges of the panels. The holes will receive fastening pins or bolts of various kinds. Forming such holes at precise locations in glass panels represents a considerable further expense. One solution has been to provide glass panel fences in which the glass panels were supported top or bottom in a metal rail system. The metal rail system was specially extruded and formed with continuous channels, so that the edges of the glass panels along the bottom and top edge of the panel could be held within such channels and secured. This of course in turn requires specially formed metal fence posts and metal railings with channels dimensioned and designed specifically to receive the glass panels of a predetermined thickness. Clearly it is desirable to make a glass fence system which is more adaptable to a variety of different locations, and having clamps which are adaptable to a variety of different types of fence posts and supporting rails. In this way, it also lends itself to the use of glass panels of somewhat reduced thickness. The net result of all these modifications can be a considerable reduction in costs.